The Vagrant
RELEASE DATE: 9 Jun, 2017
DEVELOPER: O.T.K. Games
The Vagrant is not a boob game.
Well, I mean it sort of is.
But it’s really not.
Except for the boobs.
Oh right forget it. The Vagrant is a 2D hack and slash game in the style of Odin Sphere. It has some very nice art indeed, with some gorgeous backgrounds and characters that vary up a lot as you move from one location to the next.
In each area, you’ll be chopping bits from your enemies with your sword, magicking them into next week, healing with potions, levelling up – all that good stuff. There’s a skill tree to unlock, money to find, recipes to cook, shops to browse and a decent enough story to give you a reason for all this button pressing. Plus it’s got some sweet English translation comedic fails for those of us who enjoy a bit of that.
The Vagrant is currently in Early Access which is usually a red flag but there is a considerable amount of polished content here already for a price that allows you to take a risk. I able to pick it up for a few pence during the Steam Sale at Christmas and it currently carries a paltry £2.89 price tag.
Why so cheap?
It’s got to be something to do with the art style, right? People aren’t buying it because of the boobs so they had to slash the price to encourage some speculation?
I don’t really understand this – people enjoy boobs in all other forms of media. Well not all. I mean you don’t get a lot of boob in your average radio program and they’d look a bit out of place on an advertisement promoting orthopedic shoe inserts but you get my drift. As a whole, mainstream gaming seems to get all sweaty and uncomfortable when presented with a boob or two. Give us a strapping young man heaving his chopper about and we’re all fine and dandy, but a humorously jiggling knocker (or indeed, two of them) and we get all confused. Fortunately gaming has reached a point nowadays that there are so many games with such varied art-styles that there’s something for everyone and we can just take or leave content we find troubling and no-one has to get upset.
The Vagrant hasn’t seen exactly massive promotion. I mean, just look at this timely video, hot on the heels of the games’ launch 6 months ago. Publisher SakuraGame is noted for their, uh, mature video game content but these are usually RPG-Maker or visual novel style affairs. The Vagrant is something a bit more substantial than that, It just also features…
Ummm.
Randomised Loot Drops!
Yes, that’s what it must be.
Maybe it’s because it’s not a horror-themed first person game featuring the world’s weakest flashlight – they seem to be all the rage these days.
The Vagrant has plenty of replay value and a decent length to boot, representing some significant value even if it were at a higher price point. The action is solid and gets increasingly fun as your suite of available abilities gradually widens. Soon, you are an air-dodging, combo-juggling, double-jumping heroine. Just one who inexplicably doesn’t seem to want to put some decent armour on – although you do get and upgrade armour, it’s just not represented on the character model.
Although it’s not a boob game.
Except it is a bit.
But it’s really not.
Karlos Morale 